Updated: 04/09/2008
HI 453 Online News Page
Check here frequently for important course updates and suggetsions for improvement. I will also archive all emails that I send to the class here. Remember to hit your reload or refresh button so that you get the latest version of the news page.
- 9 Apr 08: Finishing the Course
My apologies for the very brief treatment of current US-Latin American relations. I need to gather more primary sources online to cover events since 2000. With so many important topics to cover, I fear that we skip over many vital issues. However, you are asked to engage a few contemporary problems and issues, so please keep up your momentum through semester's end. Good rule of thumb: In your regular discussions, make certain that you develop at least 3 substantial, focused paragraphs, each supported by 3 or more primary sources. That will insure that you have amply evidence and have identified important issues. Put another way, if you only have a single source, you might well be writing about an issue that does not merit our attention. Likewise, for the final essay, take ex time to write, revise, and rewrite. Check you work paragraph by paragraph to make certain that you meet all rubric requirements.
ClassEval, the University's online class evaluation system, will be open from 8 am on April 12 until 8 am on April 28 when finals begin. During this period, students will be asked to evaluate each of their classes and labs by going to a website and completing brief questionnaires. See ClassEval Website. Please take time to do the evaluation. Many instructors, including me, revise course activities and materials, based on student input. Thus your impressions are important to both your instructors and to future students. Thanks, Dr. Slatta
- 20 Mar 08: Recent US actions in Latin America: Time for a critical analysis
Our last several assignments review the often messy recent history of US activities in Latin America. One of the obvious trends in recent American politics is the disdain of some presidents for constitutional limitations and checks and balances. Reagan held Congress in contempt, believing that executive power trumped all other branches of government. That led to the Iran-Contra scandal for which he may well have been impeached. Fast forward to Bush II/Cheney, who likewise believe in the absolute power of the presidency. A question worth considering is whether the checks and balances built into our system of government have been violated by foreign policy actions.
Controversial issues remain: does the School of the Americas train terrorists who attack their own people? Is the drug war a war against traffickers or a war against poor campesinos in Latin America? Are free trade agreements helping Latin America economically or eroding wages and living and environmental standards there? Can the US do anything it wants or should policymakers take international opinion into account? Weighty questions—ponder them.
Thus, as you read documents on relatively recent US actions, consider the current crisis in US standing in the world. We are viewed in a very negative light, especially in Latin America. Consider how past and present policy decisions figure into this intense anti-American sentiment. What should a rationale, empirical, as opposed to a highly ideological, foreign policy look like? I hope that you remember some of the key events, policies, and interactions between the US and Latin America. But I hope more fervently that you will use the skills you are honing to analyze critically future US actions in the world. An unthinking public encourages unthinking policies.
- 21 Feb 08: Approaching Mid-semester
As you’ll see on the assignments page, our next several topics are major conflicts, which were plentiful in 19th- and 20th-century Latin America. In addition to the US interventions in Mexico and Cuba that you will examine, Latin American faced other conflicts. France invaded and occupied Mexico in the 1860s. Wars arose between countries, such as the War of the Pacific between Bolivia, Chile, and Peru beginning in 1879. In the 20th century, the US again intervened frequently to try to suppress revolutionary movements in the region. Not surprisingly, these multiple layers of conflict disrupt both political and economic development in Latin America. Toward the end of the semester, I’ll share some thoughts with you about what is needed for better US-Latin American relations in the future. Meanwhile, enjoy spring break.
Improving Discussions
Most of you have no “internalized” the discussion rubric, but here are a few tips that will help improve your performance. Use this as a quick checklist before you submit a discussion.
1. Did you focus clearly on what the question asks?
2. Did you take the proper role assigned to you by the first letter of your last name? You will not get credit for doing the wrong part of the assignment. And if the question assigns you the role of historical actor, did you write your speech accordingly?
3. Check each paragraph after you’ve written it. Does each paragraph have a single topical focus? You will lose points for failing to organize the historical evidence logically. Does every paragraph, except for a brief intro and conclusion (if any), have quotations from and citations to at least three different primary sources?
4. Did you use the total number of different sources specified in the assignment? If no specific number is indicated, the default is at least three different documents.
5. Did you provide critical analysis of what the sources say? That is, do you provide an interpretation of what the sources mean?
Do all these things and your scores will rise.
- 13 Feb 08: More on improving performance and extra credit
First, I enjoyed briefly meeting the half dozen of you who attended my presentation on US-Latin American relations. I'll add 5 points of extra credit to your final point totals. Most of you have now internalized the requirements for making a good historical argument In many of your assignments, you will need to integrate primary sources from the Holden book along with online documents. You must integrate a variety of primary sources into each well-focused paragraph. Again, you may find the synthesis matrix helpful in achieving such integration. You cannot simply slap together a disjointed list of miscellaneous sources. The evidence (information) from the various sources must fit together to form a logical argument. I've reproduced the guidelines from the rubric for a superior discussion. Do all the following, and your grade will be superior:
Shows critical thinking and knowledge of all required readings. Every paragraph integrates evidence [direct quotations] from three or more different primary sources. Makes a critical (evaluative) analysis. Meets length requirement of 400-600 words. Includes citations to quoted documents. [May be parenthetical references, with author and short title or as footnotes.]
If you need individual attention and feedback on a specific discussion, read and follow the instructions on the how to page for how to improve performance on discussions. You'll also find more suggestions on the same page about how to synthesize/integrate different sources. This is the essential cognitive skill for historians, so you must demonstrate that skill in every discussion.
Finally, here is another extra credit opportunity. The NCSU graduate student conference will occur this Sat., Feb. 16th. The URL includes the full program. See details at If you preregister, you receive a free box lunch. Sessions run morning and afternoon. There is one panel on Latin American history, for which I will serve as commentator, at 10:45am-12:15pm, Room B, Riddick Hall. If you attend, either leave a note with me giving your name, class number HI 453, and student number, or leave such a note at the conference registration desk. You may attend any of the sessions during the day to receive 5 points extra credit.
- 28 Jan 08: Now you're prepared to jump into the real content of our course --relations between the US and Latin America over the past 2 centuries. As you'll see in the documents, and as LaRosa and O'Mora explain in chapter 1 of your text, relations have included cooperation, support, antagonism, misunderstanding, sharing, and outright hostilities. As you know from the "our approach" reading, you take the role of apprentice historians. Real historians don't just read what others have to say; they construct their own understanding of the past using primary sources. And that's exactly what you will be doing for most of the semester. So don't hold back. Don't freeze up over fears that there is only one right answer. Think of any historical topic. We have dozens if not hundreds of treatments. Your discussions are graded on the basis of how well you make, organize, and support a historical interpretation grounded in the primary sources. You may not get everything 100% "right": no big deal. Historians became expert as everyone in any field does--with practice. So your analytical, critical, and writing skills will improve with practice. As far as the nuts and bolts of all assignments, read the "how to" page thoroughly and consult the rubrics. Follow those instructions, and you will excel. So we look forward to reading your responses to the historical documents. Oh, historians do evaluate the work of others through reading manuscripts for publication, reviewing books, and commenting at professional history conferences, for examples. Thus your evaluation of discussions written by your fellow students also constitutes a "real world" activity that a professional historian would perform. Good luck and enjoy the course. 2 PSs: I have 80 online students in two classes. Please identify yourself clearly in emails (full name and course number) to save me time in formulating appropriate answers. Second, if you find a course glitch (quiz not available by due date, typos, etc.), please let me know. I'll correct the problem or explain more clearly as the case may be.
- 18 Jan 08: Response to self-introductions Thanks for taking time to introduce yourselves. Welcome to the class. First, let me introduce your course TA, Mr. Brian P. Willis. Send email to Brian, He is a history graduate student writing his Master’s thesis. Brian graded for my online course last fall, so he brings experience to the course. You will get email suggestions and comments (see your online grade book in Vista), so pay heed, and you’ll improve your performance in the class. ou will also get individual and group comments from me.
Second, heartiest congratulations!! In ten years of teaching online, I’ve never had an entire class post the first discussion messages all in the correct Vista thread! This bodes very well. You apparently read and follow instructions—buenisimo! I suggest that you take a few minute to read the introductions of your fellow students. You’ll find an amazing range of interests and experiences. Your introductions show that you range from “traditional” NCSU undergrads to people well along in their chosen careers. I recognize that many of you have multiple work and family opportunities and opportunity constraints in your busy lives. That’s why I use a “no-fault” grading policy that permits omitting assignments when you need to. Please review the policy on the grading page. Many students have no direct Latin American experience—not a problem—we’ll provide some experience for you, albeit virtual not actual.
We also have quite a number of history majors. In this course, you’ll find yourselves more often working with the real raw materials of history—primary sources—rather than relying only on the views of other scholars. This may seem a bit difficult initially, but it’s what real historians do. And in this class, everyone is an apprentice historian—not just someone passively “listening” to my views. And regardless of who you are, feel free to incorporate prior knowledge from other courses, experiences, or travel into your interpretations of events.
One student with prior distance ed experience commented that “organization is the key and procrastination will cause you a great deal of trouble.” I could not agree more. Here are a few more tips. You show paragraphs by hitting the enter key twice to insert a blank line. Vista strips out indentations and other formatting. Make certain that you meet the minimum word length, or you’ll lose points. You may run a bit long without penalty. Finally, make certain that you answer all the parts of a question. Some of you ignored the instructions for this exercise. We only made minor deductions this time, but such lapses will count off more heavily in the future. Again, welcome to course, and good luck with our exploration of Latin American history and culture.
In my self-intro, I indicated that my least favorite thing is “ideological idiots.” One student asked what that is. The extended answer appears at Inquirer or Ideologue? Your Choice. The short answer is that an ideologue approaches issues and problems with a foregone conclusion, based on preexisting prejudice. Such people as unteachable, so as a teacher, I find them irritating to say the least. In contrast, people I term “inquirers” take an inductive approach: they examine empirical evidence and construct a conclusion based on the evidence, not on preconceptions. Being a good historian requires such inductive evaluation of evidence—you’ll get lots of practice. Best wishes, Dr. Slatta PS: You do not need to archive these messages. I reprint each email to the class on the course news page for future reference.
- 14 Jan 08: Our first oops Owing to the Vista server going down unexpectedly, I have extended the due date for quiz 1 through Friday midnight, Jan 18. Sorry for the inconvenience. You can get WebCT Vista online assistance at help@ncsu.edu or by phone 515-HELP. New to WebCT Vista? Review the online tutorials, especially for discussions and quizzes.